The Good War

Name: The Good War
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Author: Todd Strasser
ISBN: 9780593345702

Author: Todd Strasser

Narrator: Robbie Daymond

Unabridged: 4 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Listening Library

Published: 01/26/2021

Categories: Children's Fiction, Historical Stories, Children's Social Themes

Synopsis

A middle school must-read that exposes the antisemitism in our country today!

From the author of The Wave comes a poignant and timely novel about a group of seventh graders who are brought together—and then torn apart—by an afterschool club that plays a video game based on WW2.

There's a new afterschool club at Ironville Middle School.

Ms. Peterson is starting a video game club where the students will playing The Good War, a new game based on World War II.

They are divided into two teams: Axis and Allies, and they will be simulating a war they know nothing about yet. Only one team will win. But what starts out as friendly competition, takes an unexpected turn for the worst when an one player takes the game too far.

Can an afterschool club change the way the students see eachother...and how they see the world?

"By using a gaming lens to explore the students’ entrée to prejudice and radicalization, he succeeds in lending immediacy and accessibility to his cautionary tale."—Kirkus Reviews

About The Author

Todd Strasser is the author of more than 140 novels for children and teens, most notably The Wave, which is taught in classrooms around the world. He lives in New York. Visit him at Todd.Strasser.com or on Twitter @Toddstrasser.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kirsti on March 05, 2021

Middle grades novel about a new esports club at school run by clueless teachers. The kids end up playing a rated-M game about World War II, and some of them start to become fascinated by Nazi ideology and white supremacy. Book is fast paced. Some of the dialogue doesn't sound like real kids. Also, i......more

Goodreads review by Lilly on November 22, 2020

I’m giving this book five stars even though I had a few problems with it. I wish they had a 4.5-star rating, but since they don’t, it gets five stars because it’s about the dangerous allure of pernicious ideas for kids who don’t really understand what’s behind them. This book raises important questi......more

Goodreads review by Alex on May 24, 2021

I was in college taking a Propaganda course when I read Todd Strasser's The Wave. It's a story about how readily people will give up their individual rights and personal freedom to become part of a dominating peer group in a classroom experiment designed to show students how Germans were persuaded t......more

Goodreads review by Katie on August 25, 2023

I had originally picked this one for my book club with 9-12 year olds, but after reading it, I thought that it needed to be read with more context. I liked it, though, and think Strasser has a writing style the kids would love. It was funny and moving and brought up so many different issues that are......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on April 15, 2021

*I was provided an e-arc of this book for an honest review from the publisher through NetGalley. This book was very different from anything I had ever read before. I don't have any experience with esports, but I love that the author is using something that is popular with kids today in conjunction wi......more

Quotes

"By using a gaming lens to explore the students’ entrée to prejudice and radicalization, he succeeds in lending immediacy and accessibility to his cautionary tale." —Kirkus Reviews

“A quick read and a thought-provoking reflection of the underbelly of our times.” —The Horn Book